Twenty people were arrested and 163 dodgy Cable TV decoders seized during two raids last week, according to the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA).
An OFTA spokesman said the operations were mounted with the police last Wednesday and Friday in Shamshuipo.
He warned that it is illegal to import, export, manufacture, sell or rent an unauthorised decoder. The maximum penalty for the offence is a fine of $1 million and five-years' imprisonment.
The Euro 2004 soccer tournament has triggered a stampede of soccer fans to Shamshuipo for illegal decoders and smart cards used to hack into Cable TV's transmission signals. But Cable TV has scrambled transmission codes during the tournament, forcing owners of illegal decoders to buy another smart card if they want to watch the games.
'Hong Kong Cable TV changes the encryption arrangement of the system from time to time so as to protect its programmes from being decoded by illegal TV decoders,' the OFTA spokesman said.
'Consumers should not procure any unauthorised TV decoders from any illegal supplier as they will suffer financial loss when the decoders become useless.'
